Driver in ‘fair condition’ following crash
A Cape Coral driver remained hospitalized on Thursday following a bridge accident last week.
Gail Phillipa Smith, 52, of 140 S.E. 12th Terrace, was listed in fair condition at Lee Memorial Hospital, where she was taken on June 23 after the crash on the Midpoint Memorial Bridge, officials reported.
Cape police reported that Smith was driving a Toyota Avalon westbound in the outside lane of the bridge at 5:44 a.m. As she maneuvered a bend in the road, Smith also tried to move to the inside lane. The rear of the car began to rotate, crossing the lane and hitting the concrete center median barrier. The Toyota ricocheted off the barrier, recrossed the inside and outside lanes, and struck the outside concrete barrier. The car then ricocheted off the outside median barrier, traveling nearly perpendicular to the westbound lanes. Its left tires next dug into the roadway, causing the Toyota to roll to the left.
Police reported that the vehicle rolled over several times while traveling diagonally from the outside lane to the inside lane, before it again collided into the concrete center median barrier. The Toyota came to a stop with its rear end resting on top of the barrier, about 600 feet beyond the first area of impact.
Smith sustained life-threatening injuries and was trauma-alerted to the hospital.
Smith was traveling an estimated 90 mph in a posted 50 mph zone, according to police.
The westbound lanes of the Midpoint were shut down for over three hours.